A/N: Hello readers! It feels like it's been forever since I uploaded a one-shot. This is a Shadow and Silver story (not yaoi) that contains quite a lot of gore, so if you get weak at the thought of blood, please spare yourself and don't read! Otherwise, enjoy the story! Oh, and TheWritingGamer, this is for being such a great sister! (:

Fighting for the Sun to Rise

"What do we do now?" Silver asked as he shook violently. A pool of blood was forming fast underneath him. Shadow was having the same problem.

The ebony hedgehog took in a ragged breath before responding, hardly above a whisper, "We fight for the sun to rise."

"Shadow, the sun's... going to rise all the same... whether we die or not." Words were getting harder to form, making his sentences estranged.

"Not if we can't... get back up and... kill the thing... that might kill us tonight."

Understanding swept over the ivory one as he simply replied, "Good point." When he looked over at Shadow, he saw that his fellow vigilante had laid his head against the ground in exhaustion. The hot red liquid continued to pool beneath the two, and now it was forming one large puddle as Shadow's eyes fluttered in an attempt to remain conscious.

"Shadow... no! Don't leave me... here..." He soon followed his partner's path of weariness and was forced to lay his head on the ground. "I need... to stop... this bleeding..." He said aloud as he pushed down harder on his ribcage, trying to ignore the pain.

"Silver..."

"What?" He suddenly realized that Shadow had spoken.

"That doesn't... seem to be working... you need... the remove the bullet..."

The white one's eyes flew open in shock. "I can't..."

"Yes you can. It's your only... chance of... survival."

"...Will it hurt?"

"Take a... wild guess."

Silver gulped. This wasn't going to be fun. He had a .9 mm bullet lodged somewhere between his ribs, and now he was being told to take it out with his own two fingers. Slowly, he removed his hand from where he was applying pressure to stop the bleeding and lightly brushed the surface of the mangled flesh with his right index finger. He winced. No, this wasn't going to be pretty at all.

Without giving it a second thought, Silver thrusted his thumb and pointer finger into the wound and dug for the bullet. His vision blurred red at the indescribably excruciating sensation, but he refused to stop as he felt something hard and smooth. He screamed and screamed until he had finally pulled it out of himself. Panting, he let it drop from his oversaturated gloves onto the concrete of the Station Square road.

After a few minutes, when he had applied more pressure and the blood flow seemed to be slowing down, he decided to speak again. "Shadow..." he gasped for air, then continued, "I got it out... and... the bleeding... it's not as bad."

"..."

"Sh-Shadow?"

No response.

Silver tried louder. "Shadow." Then he yelled. "Shadow!"

He shut his mouth so fast he bit his tongue as the white animal groaned in pain. He felt like his chest was on fire, but he had to keep trying. "SHADOW!"

That last shout was so horribly painful, that Silver failed to choke back a sob. Everything began to taste like metal and his vision kept coming in and out of focus, but the time-traveler refused to give up. With a thrust that took nearly the entirety of his willpower, he sat himself up. everything was purple and black for a moment and he blinked repeatedly until the groggy sensation was gone and he could more or less see Shadow clearly on the ground. His eyes were half-open, and his chest wasn't rising or falling like it was just minutes ago.

"No..." Silver whimpered, "I won't let you die..."

He didn't know CPR, or any of those life-saving techniques, so he did the only thing he could think of: take off Shadow's inhibitor rings.

He grabbed the one on Shadow's left wrist and pulled, but it wouldn't fit over his hand and he tried to imagine how Shadow would reach for one and unclip it. He messed with it for a few minutes, ripping Shadow's gloves in the frantic process, until he finally undid one and Shadow's hand began to glow with reddish aura.

He unclipped the other one and now Shadow's entire body glowed red. His chest still didn't rise or fall but the way the crimson energy pulsated through him made him look much more alive. And plus, if the Chaos Energy was still flowing, so he had to be alive. Right?

"Shadow, wake up! Please!" Silver begged. He froze as the black one's eyelids twitched slightly, but he remained limp. "Yes!" Silver cheered quietly, "yes, that's it!" Shadow stopped moving. The animate one pressed his thumb against Shadow's carotid artery and heard the faintest heartbeat he had ever experienced. But it was still a heartbeat.

"C'mon, you got this." He mumbled as he watched Shadow closely for any other movements. His own weight began to be too much, and Silver had to lay back down on the ground in his and Shadow's own blood. Grey clouds covered the early-morning sky, not letting a single drop of sunlight leak through, if it had even risen yet in the first place. "We've gotta... fight for the... for the sun to rise!" Silver whispered, remembering what Shadow had said earlier. "We've just gotta... fight... for the... for the... we've gotta fight..." That was the last thing to pass his lips before he felt his eyes closing slowly. He couldn't take it anymore. It felt like the strongest person on Earth was pushing his eyes shut. Giving in and letting them, the last thing he saw was the way a cloud moved ever so slightly and let a sliver of golden light seep through. A smile formed on his face as his consciousness was stolen from him.

Not a single cloud revealed itself to the sky as Blaze sat beside him on a ledge. Below them was an endless sea of green forest, and the laughing of their friends could be heard from behind them as their feet dangled down over the huge drop. Fear was nowhere in sight, because Silver could levitate of course, and he would without a doubt save Blaze if she were to tumble forward anyway. He put his hand over hers and she smiled at him warmly before leaning in to hug him. He returned the gesture and grinned as he wrapped his arms around her. Over the princess's shoulder, he could see Sonic laughing with Tails and Knuckles, Amy, Rouge and Cream playing with Cheese, and even Shadow seemed to be enjoying himself a bit more than usual. He stood behind the crowd, watching them, but there was a certain shine to his eyes that made him seem to be in a better mood. The ebony hedgehog saw Silver watching him and gave a slight nod, just a microscopic hint of a smile accenting his face. Silver gave a nod too, and then rested his head on Blaze's shoulder. Everything was perfect.

Wait a minute.

Too perfect.

"Blaze," he began suddenly, fresh fear littering his tone.

"What's wrong, Silver?" She asked, still looking as happy as ever.

"Where are we? What happened to the fight with GUN?"

"Excuse me? We're in a better place, so just be content!"

"No, no! I can't do that! I have to fight-"

He felt a hand on his shoulder and looked up to see Shadow standing next to the couple. "Can I have a word with you, Silver?"

"Uh-huh." He got up from the ledge and walked away quickly with Shadow, leaving Blaze to be puzzled as she also got up and joined the other women.

"I think you've figured out we're not on Earth anymore."

"What's going on? Why's everyone so happy? Even you're happy!"

Shadow sucked in a breath before continuing, "No, I was faking it. We're dead, Silver. We didn't make it. You died, and then I woke up because the flow of Chaos Energy had more or less revived me, then I saw you lying on the ground and put my inhibitor rings back on so I wouldn't hurt you when I tried to help you. Well, since the energy was the only thing keeping me alive, I died trying to save you."

Silver stood there in shock, then looked down at his hands. "I'm... I'm dead."

"Yes. So am I."

"B-but this is good for you! Now you can be with Maria!"

He shook his head. "No. We're in Elysium. She's in the Asphodel Meadows."

"Why?! She saved you."

"And committed a crime at the same time. Her intentions were good, yes, but... she sinned. Asphodel Meadows."

"...Are you sure?"

He nodded. "She would be here with us if she wasn't already in a different section of the afterlife. Why do you think Blaze, Sonic, and the others are here? They're already going to Elysium if they stay on their current track. Therefore, we experience that they're here with us, if we want them to be."

"...Really? I never thought that was how it worked."

"Well, I didn't even believe in the afterlife until now. I just..." He rubbed the back of his neck. "Read some mythology books... like... Percy Jackson and stuff..."

Silver could barely contain his laughter. "Really? That's hilarious!"

"Shut up, Pothead! We need to get out of here."

"Wait! Maybe we don't have to. Maybe... wasn't there a section of that book where someone exchanges her ability to go to Elysium to get her mom out of that punishment place? You two could just go to the Asphodel Fields, right?"

"It's meadows."

"Fields."

"Meadows!"

"The book said fields!"

"Wait," Shadow's mouth turned up into a sly smile. "You read those books too?"

"...No! What are you talking about!"

Now it was Shadow's turn to laugh, and Silver's face went cherry-red. "Okay fine! We both like to read children's mythology books! Suck it up!"

When Shadow stopped laughing, he said, "To answer your question from before, no, I can't do that because she's not going to the 'punishment place'. It wouldn't be an equal trade."

"Why would Hades care? It's only a loss on your part."

"Well whatever, Silver! I don't intend to stay here anyway."

"Oh, so you suppose we can just break out of here, right?"

"Sure. Who says everything is like a book?"

"Good point."

-XXX-

There they were, standing side by side on the ledge, ready to jump. "On three." Silver said slowly. Shadow nodded. "One. Two. Three- AAAAAAHHHHH!"

They were both flying through the air at an incredible pace. The wind whipped Silver's hair straight back and pressed Shadow's ears against his head. It also made such a loud continuous howl that Silver barely heard Shadow yell, "Almost there!"

"Do you think this'll really work?!" Silver screamed.

"I don't know! But we have to try!"

Shadow suddenly grabbed Silver by the wrist as the trees approached, so as not to get separated from the others. They had suffered through hearing the screams of their friends, but now they were too far away to notice and it had only lasted a second. Still though, it pained Silver to leave Blaze like that, even if she was just a figment of his imagination.

A split-second before the ground collided with their bodies to a deafening thud, the forest surrounded them and the trees blocked out all sunlight. The conifers were so tightly packed together that it was amazing the two didn't hit one on the way to the dirt. Everything was black before they even went unconscious for the second time that day. They had left the light of Elysium behind, and Silver could only hope that they hadn't plunged into some sort of hell.

When his eyes opened again, the white hedgehog was staring up at a cloud-filled sky, which was now covered in small specks of sunlight from openings in the grey blanket. His fur felt matted and sticky, because he was covered head-to-toe in the dried blood that had recently pooled beneath them. A massive, splitting ache returned to his chest and Silver gritted his teeth, thankful and disappointed to be alive again. Shadow stirred next to him, and the ebony one turned his head in greeting, and Silver was reminded of the nasty gashes that spread across his friend's face.

"The sun... has risen." Shadow whispered contently.

"Yeah." Was all Silver said in reply.

"..."

"So... what next?" Silver asked, observing the destroyed city.

"I don't... know. Why... ask me?"

Silver didn't answer. Just said, "Well... I guess... we just wait."

"For what?" Shadow asked.

"For help."

-XXX-

When Blaze and Rouge found them, the sight brought tears to their eyes. They were both coated in dried blood, Silver had an open wound near his heart, and Shadow was trying to take his inhibitor rings off, but could even find the strength to close his fingers around one.

Silver heard Blaze's voice call his name, and the word echoed through his head as she ran over to him and fell to her knees. "Blaze-"

"Please, don't try to say anything. Just... don't die okay?" He just nodded, knowing that not dying was easier said than done. The purple cat stroked his cheek gently and choked back a sob before asking, "Did GUN get to you?"

He blinked. No, Shadow and I were just in a suicide competition. He thought sarcastically, trying to bring his own spirits up. He looked over at Shadow and saw that Rouge was whispering something to him about never wanting to leave his side again. Then the bat leaned in and kissed him, the ultimate life-form's eyes growing wide with shock. With the little strength he had, Shadow kissed her back.

Silver looked back up at Blaze, and with a joking smile, whispered, "I think... you know... what I want." Blaze giggled slightly and leaned in for a kiss.

Silver gladly returned the kiss and slowly reached his blood-stained hand up to touch her face. She gently pulled away after a moment and ran a hand through the ruffled quills on his head. He smiled up at her, and she smiled back. "Okay, let's get you to the hospital." She said, looking around for a human that could carry him for her.

"Wait." She looked down at him and he was still smiling. "Just... a little... longer... please?"

She looked into his begging eyes with hesitation, but eventually gave in. "Fine." Then she pressed her lips against his a second time and they kissed again.

But then he became still and inanimate. She stopped and saw that his eyes had rolled back into his head and his eyelids drooped alarmingly. "Rouge. Rouge!" She yelled, catching the bat off-guard, who was setting Shadow's inhibitor rings on the ground for his body to heal itself.

"What happened?!" She asked, deeply unnerved by his condition.

"It was completely sudden. He just..." She trailed off, breaking into a sob.

Shadow slowly sat up as the gashes on his head began to heal and the color returned to his face. He saw Silver being given CPR from Rouge, and Blaze was crying.

"No..." he gasped. "No, no, no!" He scrambled over to Silver's side and tried to catch a glimpse of his face as the super spy worked on him. "We fought together! We fought so hard! Don't leave me now! What about Sonic and me? What about Blaze?! Don't... don't... die..."

A tear rolled down his face. Was this really happening? It wasn't fair!

After a few minutes, Rouge stopped trying to revive the time-traveler and put a digit to his carotid artery. She sighed and turned to the two anxious animals behind her. She looked to the ground and shook her head. Blaze covered her face with her hands and continued to weep. Shadow just stood there in shock.

"You okay, Babe?" Rouge asked uneasily, approaching Shadow and putting an arm around him.

"I-I lost my best friend... again."